Alireza Khatami’s The Things You Kill (pictured) and Chloé Robichaud’s Two Women were among the award winners at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The awards were presented at a ceremony on Jan. 31. Both films made their world premieres at the festival.

Minority Canadian copro The Things You Kill, written, directed and edited by Khatami, was presented the Directing Award for the World Cinema Dramatic competition. The jury for the competition was comprised of French film and television journalist and critic Ava Cahen, Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu and English actor and filmmaker Daniel Kaluuya.

“This effortless, streamlined film does not sacrifice its depth of subject even while dealing with toxic masculinity and the everyday darkness of the soul,” said the jury in a statement. “This director was masterful in their precision, they were profound yet restrained and their robust vision pushes us to want more, think more and do more to be better humans.”

The Turkish-language film follows a university professor who, after the suspicious death of his mother, coerces his gardener into killing his father. It is produced by Khatami for his Toronto-based prodco Tell Tall Tale, Michael Solomon for his Montreal-based prodco Les Films Bandwith Pictures, Elisa Sepulveda Ruddoff for France’s Fulgurance, Cyriac Auriol for France’s Remora Films, Mariusz Włodarski for Poland’s Lava Films and Turkish prodco Sineaktif.

Robichaud’s Two Women (Amérique Film) was presented with a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Writing. It is written by Catherine Léger and produced by Léger and Martin Paul-Hus.

“For its courageous exploration of female desire, its joyful and comedic tone, and its fearless, complex characters with awakened sexuality — this film exudes freshness, rhythmic editing and impossible wit,” said the jury.

Two Women follows a pair of suburban mothers who begin to reevaluate their lives after one of them engages in an extramarital affair.

The Sundance Film Festival ran from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2.

Image courtesy of the Sundance Institute; photo by Bartosz Świniarski